Metal-heating furnace.



No. 729,712. PATENTBD JUNE 2, 1903. T. v. ALLIS;

METAL HEATING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. 19oz. y

no MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEY PATENTED JUNE 2, 1903. T. V. ALLISQ J METAL HEATING FURNACE.

APPLIOATIOK FILED FEB. 41 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

lN ENTDR UNiTED STATE Patented June 2, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS V. ALLIS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

M ETAL-HjjEATiNG FU RNAC E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.729,'712, dated June'2, 1903.

Applicatioufiled Pebruarye, 1902, Serial No. 92.518. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it mag concern.-

Be it known thatI, THOMASY. ALLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridge port, i n-the county of Fairfield andStateof Connecticut, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Metal-Heating,Fnr-

n aces, of which thefollo'wing is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in metalheating furnaces, and is particularly adapted to heat metal plates in packs, and is so constructed that regular intermittent delivery of heated metal for reduction may be maintained. 'With this end in viewI construct a furnace preferably in the form of a hollow square. The metal is charged into the furnace at a certain point and is propelled through a rectangularly-arranged heatingchamber and delivered in a properly-heated condition at the point of'entry.

To enable others to understand my invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which'- a Figure 1 represents. an upper plan view of. Fig. 2- is a detail view of the mechanismadapted to 1 be used in squaring or evening up the plates of a pack preparatory to their being reduced, Fig. 3 is a sectional view i the furnace with the roof removed.

usually by rolling. of the furnace on line a a of Fig. 1, with the roof added, also broken view of the chimney. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of one side of the furnace and roof on line b b of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the carrier-blocks with a pack of metal plates resting thereon.

The furnace is preferably in the form of a hollowsquare comprising the sides 1, 2, 3, and 4. The tile floor 5, Fig. 3, is supported upon the refractory stools 6. unbroken around three sides of the furnace,

terminating at c c, Fig. 1, where the heatingchamber 7 (shown at Fig. 3) also terminates;

stone or other refractory material and are mounted in said channel-irons. On these blocks are placed the metal packs 11 to be This floor extends lever 22.

heated Instead of a, plain upper surface, as shown, these blocks may be provided with ribs or a pocket to prevent displacement of the packs.

12 is a fine for the admission of. fuel-gas, which gasenters the combustion-chamber 13 below the furnace-floor 5, whereit is ignited. From thence the flame passes up the short line 14, located between one edge of the floor 5 and the inner wall of the furnace, thence over said floor (see arrows) and passing off through the fines 15 as waste products of combustion (see also Fig. 3) to the chimney 16, lo' dated within the central open space 17. (Shown more clearly at Fig. 1.)-

18, 19, 20, and 21 are pusher-rodsloeated at the four corners of the furnace for the purpose of propelling the carrier-blocks with their load through the annular heating-chamber.

The packs or plates, as before mentioned, are entered into the furnace and delivered therefrom at the passage-way 9. In this passage-way and close to the channel-iron 8, which bridges said passage-way, is situated an apparatus adapted to square'or even up metal packs that are not riveted or otherwise fastened together. This apparatus (shown more clearly at Fig. 2) consists of the vertical lever 22, pivotally supported to the base 23 by pin 24.

25 is a table. spanning the passage-way 9, with its ends let into the brickwork of the furnace, as shown more clearly at Fig. 1. 26 is a groove in said table to permit the movement of the upper end of the lever 22. 27 is a cord or chain passing .overthe pulley 28 and is secured both to said lever and to the treadle 29, whereby said lever is operated, for the purpose presently to be explained.

30 is an angle-plate adj ustably mounted on .the table 25, whose vertical portion corres'ponds to the upper T-shaped: end 22 of the 31 is a butting-block on said table, and 32 isa groove. in the table 25 to admit one of the jaws of a pair of"tongs used for grasping the packs. 33 is a spring interposed between lever 22 and the depending lug 34 of said table to throw said lever back to its normal position.

When drawing a pack from the furnace whose plates are of the same size, the pack is grasped centrally by a pair of tongs and is laid on the table 25 with the end opposite the operator and is chucked hard against the block 81, so as to even up the plates of said pack on two ends, the grip of the tongs exerting only sufficient tension to enable the plates of the pack to move for this purpose. The groove 32, as before mentioned, receives the under jaw of the tongs, so that the Pack will rest on the table. The sides of the pack are then evened up between the movable lever-jaw 22 and the angular plate 30. When the pack is thus properly adjusted, it is conveyed to the red ncing-machine, usually a rolling-mill. This or a similar device maybe employed to even up packs before charging them onto the carrier-blocks, if desired. Each carrier-block also has the groove 10? for the accommodation of the tongs either when entering packs into the furnace or drawing them therefrom.

The number and size of the carrier-blocks are so proportioned with respect to the size and construction of the furnace that the channelirons 8 contain enough carrier-blocks, less one, to fill them, thus leaving a single space unoccupied. In Fig. 1 this space is represented by d. In operating the furnace the packs are placed on the carrier-blocks as they intermittently pass across the passage-way 9, their dwell being sufficiently long at this point for the operator to remove the hot pack and place a cold one thereon. The pusherrod 18 is first brought into operation to propel the line of carrier-blocks on side 1 of the furnace a distance represented by the length of one carrier-block. This will bring the carries-block at the opposite end of the line into said space (I and leave an empty space at the corner occupied by the pusherrod 18, which will be filled with a carrier-block through the medium of the pusher-rod 21. The pusherrod 20 will then be operated to fill this latter space, which space will be filled by the operation of the pusher-rod 19. In this manner the carrier-blocks are charged and discharged as they are propelled in the annular heatingchambers around the furnace, and when each pack has thus traversed the furnace and arrived at the starting-point it is hot enough to be removed for reducing.

It will be understood that the heating area of the furnace is so proportioned that the predetermined intermittent movement of the packs, as above described, will bring them to p the proper temperature for reducing when they have traveled once around the furnace.

The above construction of furnace, when operated in conjunction with the carrierblocks, has marked distinctions from a previous application fora patent made by me and filed April 20, 1901, Serial No. 56,788, wherein packs are described as being progressively heated by advancing them through a heating-furnace in broken lines which are sufficiently short to prevent overriding or interlacing of the packs as they are propelled through the furnace. The packs contemplated in the above-named application and this are about one-half inch thick, which precludes the propulsion of any great number of packs abutting each other; hence the short sections or lines of packs describedin said application. By the use of the carrierblocks, as herein described, the ends of the packs loaded on the-carrier-blocks do not come in contact with each other, Wherebyinterlacing under pressure is avoided. The carrier-blocks may also be of any desired thickness, which avoids the tendency to override, as the thickness of said blocks will be in proportion to the length of the line to be moved, and the arrangement of the heatingchamber in this form causes said carrierblocks to travel in constant heat, and the blocks in their travel are loaded and unloaded at a given point. It is therefore evident that the furnace may be-of any continuous angular form; but that of the hollow square, herein described, is preferred as the most economical and convenient of operation.

I hold myself at liberty to dispense with the combustion-chamber below the worksupporting floor and carry the flame over the top of the metal, as commonly practiced.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, and means for moving metal along said passages, as set forth.

2. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, and means at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving metal along one of said passages, as set forth.

A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving metal along one of said passages, as set forth.

4. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a guideway bridging said opening, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving metal along one of said passages, as set forth.

5. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistin g of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a channeled guideway bridging said opening, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for mov- ICC ing metal along one forth. 1

6. A furnace for heating metal, having an endlessheating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving anddelivering metal, a guideway bridgingsaid opening, means in said guideway for squaring the edges of packs of metal, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving metal along one of said passages, as set forth.

7. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, a series of separate abutting carrier-blocks in saidchamber, and means for moving the blocks along said chamber, as set forth. I

8. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an anof said passages, as set gle to each other, a series of separate carrier blocks in said passages, and means formoving said blocks along said passages, as set forth.

9"." A furnace for heating metal having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, aseries of separate carrierblocks in said passages, and means at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages,

as set forth.

10. A furnace for heatingmetal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and deliverin g metal, aseries of separate carrier-hlocks in said passages, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

11. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber con sisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a guidevvay bridging said opening, a series of separate carrier-blocks in said passage, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

12. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistin g of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a channeled guideway'loridging said opening, a series of separate carrierblocks in said passages, and means at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

13. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistin g of straightpassages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a guideway bridging said opening, means in said guideway for squaring the edges of packs of metal, a series of separate carrier-blocks in said passages, andmeans at the angular junction of each pair of straight passages for moving the. blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

14;. A f nrnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistin g of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, and a pusher at the angularjunction of each pair of passages for moving the metal along one of said passages, as set forth. t t

15. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passages formoving the metal along one of said passages, asset forth.

16. A furnace for heating met-a1, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistingof straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening atthe sideof one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a guideway bridging said opening, and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving the metal along one of said passages, as set forth.

17. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistingof straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering. metal, a channeled guidevvay bridging said opening, and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair ofpassages for moving the metal along one of said passages, as set forth.

18. A furnace for heatingmetal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and de1ivering metal, a guideway bridging said opening,- meansin said guideway for squaringthe edges of packs of metal, and a pusher atthe angularjunctiou of each pair of passages for moving the metal along one of said passages,

as set forth. 1 l

19. A furnace for heating metal, havingan endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistin g of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, a series of separate carrierblocks in said passages, and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passagesfor moving the blocks along one of said passages, asset forth.

20. A furnace for heating metal, having-an endless heating-chamber, saidchamber consisting of straight passagesarranged at an an gle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a series of separate carrier-blocks in said passages, and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

21. A furnace for heating metal,.l1aving an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a guideway bridging said opening, a series of separate carrier-blocks .in said passages, and a pusher at the angular j unction of each pair of passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

22. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a channeled guideway bridging said opening, a series of separate carrierblocks in said passages and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

23. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber con sisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, an opening at the side of one of said passages for receiving and delivering metal, a guideway bridging said opening, means in said guideway for squaring the edges of packs'of metal, a series of separate carrier-blocks in said passages, and a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving the blocks along one of said passages, as set forth.

24. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, a series of separate carrier-blocks in said chamber, each block having a groove in its upper face, and means for moving said blocks along said chamber, as set forth.

25. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber corisisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, a series of separate carrierblocks in said passages, each block having a groove in its upper face, and means for moving the blocks along said passages, as set forth.

26. A furnace for heating metal plates arranged in packs, having an evening device for the packs, consisting of a table carrying a butting block and an angleplate, and

means for pushing the pack against said angle-plate, as set forth.

27. A furnace for heating metal plates arranged in packs, having an evening device for the packs, consisting of a table carrying the butting-block and an angle-plate, and a pivoted lever projecting above said table in position to push the pack against said angleplate, as set forth.

28. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, a series of separate carrierblocks in said passages, the length of the heating-chamber and blocks and the number of blocks being such as to leave a vacant space for one block, and means at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving metal alongone of said passages, as set forth.

29. A furnace for heating metal, having a heating chamber with a work supporting floor, a combustion-chamber beneath said floor, a series of gas-inlet ports along one side of said chamber, an inlet-flue between one edge of said floor and the Wall of said chamber, and a series of discharge-fines for the waste products of combustion above said floor and on the opposite side of said chamber from said inlet-fine, as set forth.

30. A furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consistin g of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, means for moving metal along said passages, a stack arranged within the inclosure surrounded by said chamber, and fiues for the products of combustion leading from said chamber to said stack, as set forth.

31. A-furnace for heating metal, having an endless heating-chamber, said chamber consisting of straight passages arranged at an angle to each other, a pusher at the angular junction of each pair of passages for moving metal along one of said passages, a stack arranged within the inclosure surrounded by said chamber, and fines for the products of combustion leading from said chamber to said stack, as set forth.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, this 3d day of February, A. D. 1902.

- THOMAS V. ALLIS.

Witnesses:

A. L. ADAMS, GEO. O. GAMMELL. 

